1 day in Lyon
 

Hello Fodorites,

Can you advice what arr. to stay in Lyon that's an easy walk to markets and restaurants?? My husband and I are planning an overnight stay on our way from Barcelona going to Paris next May 2019. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you guys.

Spent a week in Lyon long ago but some things never really change - like the northwest (?) corner of the island Lyon proper occupies - where the famous traboules are - neat pasageways going deep into ancient buildings:

https://www.google.com/search?q=lyon...ih=611&dpr=1.5

and just across the river take the funicular or hike up to the famous pilgrimage church high on a hill.

So that's one area not to miss.

These are the places we visited - with some comments

-Les Halles indoor food market. This was very disappointing. We've visited about 15 other Les Halles type markets in France, and this one was very poor

- From the Michelin Green Guide, walk #2 Les Cordeliers & walk #3 From Bellecour to Carnot

- Old Lyon from the Michelin Green Guide. Walk # 1 & 2. We especially enjoyed the Traboules. Get a map at the tourist office
https://www.francetoday.com/learn/hi...n_s_traboules/

- Musee des Tissus - my wife spent 2 hrs there while I sat at a cafe outside. She loved it
- Musee des Arts Decoratifs - very interesting

- La Croix Rousse
Walk # 1 in the Michelin Green guide. We enjoyed this area of Croix Rousse - especially the southernmost section.
Walk # 2. We did not enjoy this area of Croix Rousse. A little too grungy for us.

- Maison des Canuts. My wife was very interested in the silk history of Lyon. So we visited this museum & took a tour - in French (my wife speaks French - I don't). The visit consumes a lot of time, and many people were bored. My wife enjoyed it.

- Ateliers de Soierie Vivant. There are 2 places that you can visit that still have the silk making machinery set up. People actually lived in the same room/building as their machinery, and the entire family lived there also. It was an "eye opener" for us. We enjoy visiting places where people lived & worked a century or so ago. The second house on Rue Richan was the most interesting - but both were perhaps more enjoyable than the Maison des Canuts if you want to see the machines in action.
https://soierie-vivante.asso.fr/

We dined at Leon de Lyon & enjoyed it. We also dined at Les Loges for my birthday. Fabulous & expensive. We dined at l'Alexandrin & it was excellent.


Stu Dudley

I'd stay in the center in the first arrondisements. I liked staying between Bellecour and Cordeliers metros.

If you are only there one night, what kind of markets do you want to go to? You can't be buying groceries and cooking. I'd forget markets for just an overnight.

If looking for big splurge restaurants Paul Bocluses' ***Michelin is a short taxi ride into northern suburbs.

https://www.bocuse.fr/en/paul-bocuse-restaurant.html

We've previously stayed in the Presquile (near Bellecour, 2nd ARR), so it was also walking distance to the Lyon Perrache station (where we returned our rental car, and also took the TGV to Paris when leaving) and convenient for the sights (our points of interest were scattered across Vieux Lyon, Croix Rousse and the Presquile itself, all largely walking distance).

Lyon isn't exactly "on the way from Barcelona to Paris," but in any case I always stay at La Résidence near the Place Bellecour.

Thank you for the info StCirq. I'm still trying to fix my itinerary and find out what train to take from Barcelona to Paris. The sleepover in Lyon, I got the idea from PalenQ. :-)

Thank you all for the helpful tips and thoughts Fodorites :-) You guys are the best reliable team ever!!

Hi Christina,
No I'm not planning of buying groceries and cooking, I just want to see their farmer's markets and compare it to the one we have here in the US :-)

<< I got the idea from PalenQ...>> Yes, well.....

It makes zero sense to stop in Lyon on the way from Barcelona to Paris if traveling by train. First of all, there are direct trains from Barcelona Sants to Paris at least a couple of times a day. The trip takes 6.5 hours. If you want to stop along the way for an overnight, the only sensible choice is Toulouse, which is a wonderful town.

A glance at a map or a brief foray on train sites makes it clear that Lyon simply isn't on the trajectory. Zooming that far east of the obvious route for an overnight is a complete waste of time.

Toulouse has markets, too, of course.

Oh ok. I'll make a note of that and check for Toulouse in the map.

@StCirq and where did you stay in Toulouse? Is it a walkable city?

It makes zero sense to stop in Lyon on the way from Barcelona to Paris if traveling by train. First of all, there are direct trains from Barcelona Sants to Paris at least a couple of times a day. The trip takes 6.5 hours. If you want to stop along the way for an overnight, the only sensible choice is Toulouse, which is a wonderful town.>

I disagree - there are direct Barcelona to Lyon AVE (like TGV) trains - like one leaving Barcelona about 8:30 - Toulouse would be a major detour off the Barcelona-Paris train route and would leave you still a long way from Paris. Lyon is a very sensible stop and 2 hours from Paris via TGV and simply a wonderful large city.

A glance at a map or a brief foray on train sites makes it clear that Lyon simply isn't on the trajectory. Zooming that far east of the obvious route for an overnight is a complete waste of time.> This is totally incorrect as is Lyon is right smack on that trajectory, making Lyon a perfect stop - TGVs Barcelona-Paris do not stop in Lyon but go thru it - Toulouse however is a major detour off direct Barcelona-Paris direct train route. Suggest StCirq look at a trajectory map a bit better!

So direct Barcelona-Lyon AVE train and Lyon-Paris TGV would take about an hour longer all told than the direct TGV Barcelona-Paris trains that

In Lyon the Gallo-Roman museum is excellent
https://lugdunum.grandlyon.com/en/

We've visited both cities several times. Here are my thoughts:


Lyon vs Toulouse - which city is more interesting?
Toulouse is tied with Dijon as our favorite city in France - after Paris. Lyon is about 5 or 6. But if you have only 1 day there - "Old Lyon" with the Traboules is just as interesting as Toulouse. You can visit most of the neat stuff in Toulouse in a full day. We were in Lyon for 5 nights last year - and were busy most of the time. Toulouse has a very nice Les Halles type indoor food hall. The Bocuse les Halles food hall is disappointing and not near the "old" section of Lyon. We did not see any street market while we were in Lyon. Lyon is huge, and there probably is one. But in the 3 days we were in Lyon & spent a lot of time in "Old Lyon" and getting to & from it - we didn't see any.



Getting there & then to Paris:
Toulouse
Depart Barcelona at 9:25 & arrive at 14:02 with a train change in Narbonne
Depart Toulouse at 13:56 & arrive in Paris at 18:13
We've stayed at the Mermoz twice and the President once. Both are within walking distance of the train station and also the center of Toulouse. We've also stayed at an expensive place near the main square in town - but you will need a taxi to get to & from it.


Lyon
Depart Barcelona at 8:25 & arrive at 13:31
Hourly departures to Paris. Two hour trip.
The trains arrive & depart at the Part Dieu train station. You will need a taxi to get to a hotel & back of you stay near "Old Lyon" or a taxi to get you to/from "Old Lyon" if you stay near the train station. We've stayed at the Opera hotel once, rented an apt once, and visited Lyon as a day trip from elsewhere once.


Tough choice!!!



Stu

edit

<<Toulouse would be a major detour off the Barcelona-Paris train route and would leave you still a long way from Paris.>>

No, it would not. There are countless trains each day from Barcelona to Toulouse that continue on to Paris. Or you can stop for an overnight. Just plug your itinerary (Barcelona to Paris into Trainline and see what comes up). Look at a map of France and read the train schedules.

We are in Toulouse often. We tend to stay at the Hôtel Icare just opposite the train station because we are usually traveling through and want to be near the station. It's a lot nicer inside than it looks from the outside, but there are plenty of nice hotels in Toulouse.

A glance at a map or a brief foray on train sites makes it clear that Lyon simply isn't on the trajectory. Zooming that far east of the obvious route for an overnight is a complete waste of time.>

Toulouse is a neat city but to say it is on the direct route Barcelona to Paris is simply not true and to say that Lyon is not on the direct trajectory is also simply not true.

Detouring off main direct train route to Paris to hit to Toulouse would add about an extra day to OP's travel time. If they have time great but I thought OP wanted something on direct route. And Lyon is a great great one-night stand.

https://www.trainline.eu/search/barc...18-09-21-22:00

DUH!

Toulouse is totally on the direct train line from Barcelona to Paris. I take this train all the time.

Maybe you should plan a trip to re-visit Europe sometime, Pal.